


The art of patience

by PersassyJacksasson



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Everything Will Be Explained, Kakashi and his cute little genin, Kurama and Naruto friendship, Kurama is Awesome, Multi, Naruto is a bit more smart, Naruto is a sunshine, Please Don't Hate Me, Protective Uzumaki Naruto, Time Travel, Young Uzumaki Naruto, because I'm to lazy for romance, hinted KakaIru, little brother Konohamaru, still a bit stupid tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-03-25 17:25:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersassyJacksasson/pseuds/PersassyJacksasson
Summary: When you go back in time you shift it. Like kick against it without being able to place it back again like it was. Even if you'd attempt it, there would still be a difference from its former position. Naruto didn't know that, Kurama neither. So, upon finding himself face to face with people that are younger than they should be, a Konoha that should be newer and a time line that is already off its previos course, Naruto may as well change a few things himself.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a genius but I'm pretty sure something's wrong with Naruto

A loud cough escaped Naruto as he opened his eyes. He slammed his bowl of ramen on the desk bellow, making the counter shudder with the strength. His hands flew to his throat, trying and failing to hold the rasping in. Tears pricked in his eyes as he gasped for air. He shut his eyes, forcefully willing the tears and blinding light that wasn't there a minute ago to vanish.

The scent of noodles filled his nose, making his head spin. He could hear the chatter of people going for a walk in the afternoon sun behind him, letting him know he isn't alone.  _(So many footsteps, so loud, must be many people). _The hyper activity of his senses started to ring in his ears and he truly started to think his head might explode.  _(Can a head explode like that?)._

A warm hand touched his shoulder, triggering alarm in his system and making him reach out blindly and twist it dangerously. The hand turned with the motion and switched places with experienced ease, being now the one to hold his wrist. Blinking rapidly, Naruto tucked his wrist with one fluid motion back and jumped from the high chair he has been sitting on. His world seemed to tilt, his vision going blurry for a second before he seemed to fall, landing with a tudd on the ground. He moaned in pain, trying to stand up, though his limbs burned with something he couldn't identify. "Maa, what's gotten into you, Naruto?", came a voice, startling him near death. The blondes eyes focused on the speaker. "Kakashi sensei?", came the shaky response from him as he coughed sight of the silver haired jonin sitting in one of the chairs. He cast a lone eye on him, attempting to ask something again as his student stood up and backed away slightly, a stiffness in his shoulders that shouldn't be there. He formed a seal before closing his eyes with a shout, "Kai!". A wave of chakra lashed out from him, hitting Kakashi full force, tough he didn't show any signs from being overly disturbed. He raised a critical eyebrow, his lone eye narrowing at Naruto slightly. The boy seemed to notice this, forming the seal again and repeating the process, sending an even bigger wave of chakra from himself, making dishes clatter against each other and Teuchi stumble with a startled yelp. Even Kakashi was surprised at the amount on chakra used and jumped from his chair as his student began to move his hands again, this time a bit faster. The man grabbed the boys wrists, "Stop it, Naruto".

Tucking at his wrists, Naruto glanced upwards, a cold shine in his eyes as he seemed to regard Kakashi. The grip on his wrists seemed to tighten, the dark gaze on him intensified, "This is no genjutsu, Naruto", came the strict reply, demanding him to stop. It was like lighting oil on fire. Naruto looked up completely, giving his sensei a lazy but cold look that seemed to just  _know_ , "Then why aren't you dead?". He yanked his hands away and pushed past Kakashi, disappearing in trough the curtains of the noodle stand in the blink on an eye. _(He knew he couldn't escape. The caster would follow. He would know where he is, where he's headed)._

* * *

Kakashi slammed the money for the food on the counter, starling Teuchi and Ayame. Forming a hand seal he shunshined away and appeared on a rooftop,  nearly slamming into Naruto. There was still the lingering smell of food in the air with a mix of tobacco from a nearby bar. Chatter filled the new surroundings with ease, showing how lively the village was. To find the boy wasn't very hard, realised Kakashi, it was actually easier than before. He was leaking chakra like a wine barrel with holes! His appearance startled Naruto, though he didn't seem very surprised. Kakashi stood in his way, his presence overpowering the people below. He settled his hands on his hips, "What was that about, Naruto?". The boy took a step away from him, only now seeing how small he  is compared to the jonin and narrowed his eyes at him.  _ (Why was he so short? What was that funny feeling in his veins? And Why was his seal so tight?) _ . He put a hand  defensively on his stomach and put more distance between them.  Trying to recall what happened in the last minutes caused his hands to ball in the fabric of his old orange jumpsuit . Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows, "Naruto? Are you feeling alright?". The blonde tried to relax his stance, "Yeah". He let his gaze wander  carefully and kept his stance nonchalant. There were older buildings, mused Naruto and looked back at Kakashi. He froze ate sight behind him.  The Hokage monument arose behind Kakashi, three faces carved in stone overlooked the village . His eyes widened  considerably , disbelief showing in them.  Kakashi glanced for a second behind him,  just to check that everything was okay and turned back to his student . The jinchuriki shook his head and turned away, his strained voice almost didn't reach his teacher as he took off, "I'm going home!". 

Kakashi went after him  immediatly , ready to stop his student till he vanished in a puff of smoke. 

* * *

 Stumbling over his feet as he materialized, Naruto grabbed the nearest piece of furniture and held on for dear life .  His head was spinning with the effort to concentrate on his destination, having long since forgotten the old layout of Konoha . He felt like a balloon that was about to pop  as to much chakra for his coils to handle coursed through his veins. It burned trough his system, leaving an unpleasent, numb fealing in it's wake. He hissed and pushed himself away to stand again, cursing as he formed a quick seal and vanished again.

Though a shunshin eats over a great distance a big amount of chakra, it didn't help Narutos case much. He fell to the stone ground and supported his weight with one hand while forming a one handed tiger seal and shouting, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!". A split second later more than hundred blondes appeared in a puff of white smoke. The wind picked up due to the height of the statues they were on. The nearest duplicate to Naruto helped him up and slung an arm over his shoulder. The original mumbled his gratitude before standing on his own, "We need to burn up chakra! So start forming groups of two and make rasenshuriken! Direct them at the sky so no damage can be done!".  The clones nodded, doing as they  were told , giving Naruto the opportunity to escape again before they started .

 

 


	2. Let's switch dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi would take every opportunity to get away, but his sense of responsibility gets always in the way.

Kakashi knocked  lightly  on the window to Narutos apartment. The curtains were wide open, letting beams of sunlight and Kakashi's shadow into the room. There were clothes, leftovers and papers scattered across the floor. Naruto flinched a little and raised his head, eyes still droopy, "Kaka-sensei?". Kakashi gave him a quick once over, noting the pailness of his skin and the dark rings around his eyes. He nodded and said, "You are missing the team meeting right now". Narutos eyes came alight with realisation and his mouth dropped open, "I totally forgot!", he sprang out of his bed, "I'm there in a minute!". Kakashi nodded, but didn't say anything and popped in a cloud of chakra smoke. Naruto stared at the spot where he sat and rubbed his temples, "How late am I that he needs to send a clone? That means he himself is even there". 

Naruto was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, not having had enough energy to take it off. Tsunades necklace hung loosley around his neck, unharmed. Something you can't say about his other belongins.  Weirdly  , his clothes  are scorched  from where it touches his skin, especially from where his old necklace and anbu tatoo lie  . Naruto took his jumpsuit as fast off as he could, only looking for a second at the faded red spiral on his left shoulder.  The skin burned a little like it did when it was first branded there, but looked like the tatoo has been there for a century . It lookes older than Naruto remembers it, since for him it is only three years old. He shook his head and made for another of his jumpsuits, keeping in mind to buy a new one more fitting for the life of a ninja.

'But it's still gonna have orange of course', thought Naruto as he put on a henge.

* * *

Naruto reappeared near the bridge his team was to meet, the smell of grass hanging in the air. It was warm, almost awfully so, though the  seemingly  12- year old didn't seem to mind. He took off to where he knew his team would be, the annoyance coming from them in waves. There were big shadows being cast by the trees near by, creating cool patched. The rest of team 7 was sitting there, looking  overly  bored or annoyed. Sakura  was seated  on the ground and picked at the wood, a scowl on her face. The pinkette muttered at times something before giving another glare at the ground.  The dark haired boy leaning against the bridge behind her had a similar expression, though his was more closed off  . He had closed his eyes after a while, arms folded across the chest. The tallest of the three  was positioned  against the bridge as well, an orange book in hand. 

As Naruto approached, a broad grin growing on his face, Sasuke cracked an eye open. He sighed and closed it again, "He has arrived". Sakura's head snapped up at that and an angry expression bloomed on her face. She jumped to her feet and took off, fully intending to show how long they've waited. Kakashi didn't even react, he just slowly pocketed his book and turned one eye to the blonde running up to them. He didn't take as long as Kakashi anticipated. 

Sakura's anger seemed to grow at the happy expression on the boy's face. She was about to throw a punch at him as he  simply  side stepped and continued to run.  He turned his head, grin stretching his whisker marks and blue eyes sparkling with something aching to content, "Come on Sakura-chan ! You can punch me later, we're late!". Bewildered, Sakura stared at him for a moment before turning an angry red, "And whose fault is that, baka?!". 

Naruto came to a halt before his jounin sensei and rubbed his neck, his grin getting smaller, "Sorry", was all he offered before casting a glance to the side  . He  was met  with a pair of dark eyes, watching him  weirdly  . The blonde waved at him, his cheerfulniss coming back a bit, though it seemed  mostly  dull, "Heya, Sasuke". The Uchiha scowled at him for a moment before turning to Kakashi, "Can we go now? We have wasted enough time as it is". At his words Sakura stopped before them. She looked  weirdly  at Naruto, but he  just  ignored her glance and watched a bird in the sky  fly  by. 

 "Yeah, it's time to go, isn't it?", said Kakashi, closing his book.

 

 

* * *

"This again", mumbled Naruto and pulled a few weeds from the ground. He looked  boredly  to his other team mates and than to Kakashi. He was  totally  not going to do that again. "Kakashi sensei! I'm allowed to use clones, right?". His sensei looked up from his book. He was leaning against the fence, looking  utterly  as comfortable as Naruto didn't. "Well, as long as you don't get in your team mate's way, do as you wish", he shrugged and went back to his reading.  Though Naruto  strongly  suspected, that he  probably  paid more attention to his actions than icha icha . Naruto rolled his eyes at the thought and brought his hands in a familiar sign, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!". Four Narutos appeared in puffs of smoke. They looked at each other, nodding before getting to work, careful to only pull the weeds out.

Sasuke and Sakura watched him for a moment, before starting to work a bit faster than before. It wasn't long till Naruto  was finished  with his part and dispersed his clones. He wiped his forehead and made to sit down near Kakashi at the fence. The silver haired jounin cast him a sidelong glance and flipped a page of his book. His voice was nonchalant as he spoke, "Why are you wearing a henge?". Naruto tryed not to startle and looked confused at his teacher, but he gave him a dead look. "You are wearing a henge", repeated the man. Naruto met his gaze defiantly, "What of it?". If he can't hide it, than he needs to play off it as nothing. "Well, that was my question for you". Kakashi didn't like to repeat himself. He  barely  catched the henge as it was and now he wants to know why that is. Why there was a henge in the first place.

Naruto turned his gaze away and looked at the other two members of team 7, "I miscalculated", he said, and it was such a not-Naruto thing to say he almost cringed at himself, "On our mission to wave... I was  just  dead weigh! I couldn't do a thing except getting Zabuza to cry". He huffed and met Kakahi's eye  stubbornly  , "I  just  wanted to learn a new jutsu! I remembered that genjutsu you used on Sakura". He seemed to deflate into himself, "Didn't work out well. With my chakra controll it  just  backfired and got me hallucinating". Naruto steeled his gaze and dropped the henge.  It was gone in a puff of smoke, showing tattered clothing, pale and feverish skin, dark circles under tired eyes and  tangly  blonde hair  . Kakashi's eye widened a fraction before going back to normal. Narutos henge was already on again as he blinked. Kakashi gave Naruto a weird look, a mixture of tiredness and curiosity.  "You messed yourself up pretty  badly  ", he spoke the obvious with a drawl, "If you wanted to learn a new jutsu, you could have come to me"  . Naruto blinked his eyes at him before grinning. Wide,  toothily  and sincere. His eyes sparkled as he jumped up and pointed a finger at his sensei, "I'm gonna hold you to that, ya'know!".

"We're finished". Naruto turned around, still grinning, "Hey, you guys are finished too?". Sakura glared at him, dirtied hands on the hips, "You could have helped us with your clones, baka!". The blonde held up his hands in surrender, his grin more a little smile now, "I didn't think about that". Sakura's eye twitched.

 Hiruzen smiled in greeting as team 7 approached his desk in the mission room. "Well, that was faster than I was excpecting". His smile became a bit wider as Naruto stopped before his desk, grinning  contently  at the sight of him, "Heya old man". (Lond time no see) . Sakura gasped at him, landing a fist on his head, "Don't call the Hokage old!".  She turned  apologetically  to Hiruzen and inclined her head, "I'm so sorry for his behavior, Sandaime"  . Naruto rubbed his head in pain, stepping closer to Sasuke. The dark haired teen glowered  silently  at him, which he has been doing for the whole day now, and dared him to get closer. Naruto tried to wrack his brain for the reason Sasuke seemed so tense, before giving up shortly after. He looked  expectantly  at the Hokage, trying to keep his gaze clear. (If you act like always they won't notice a change.)

Hiruzen was eyeing him as he returned his gaze.  There was nothing readable in his eyes, but Naruto's back straightened nonetheless at their intensity . The old man cleared his throat, explaining their next mission. He seemed surprised as no protest came from Naruto.

 

 

The days after that flew by. Naruto settled with practiced ease into the new (or was it old?) environment. Team 7 went from one mission to another, Naruto feeling utterly bored at the actuall deja vu happening to him. He was frustrated that nothing seemed to happen, even if his content evenings at Ichiraku's gave him more relaxation than the last few years of his life. Kakashi didn't show any signs of suspicion, but Naruto knew him all to well to think otherwise. The other members of team 7 didn't suspect a thing. Sasuke was as cold as ever, even with Naruto being just a little bit less obnoxious for him. Sakura seemed on edge with him though. He didn't ask her out on dates anymore or got into her personal space like he used to. Naruto knew he should't have ceased it. He should just act like his younger self. But he doesn't want to. He came to realize that Sakura was just a friend, a good one at that, and that they would have been closer so much sooner if he hadn't been flirting with her nonstop. 

Acting like that wasn't hard. He was just pretending to be younger. He still had most in common with his 12 year old self. He still didn't eat anything except ramen, still was stupid and loyal to his friends, but he wasn't inexperienced anymore. He wasn't as naive anymore. Not naive enough to think he could save Sasuke without killing him.

Naruto sighed to himself, hiding his neckless under his jump suit gingerly. He still didn't bought a new one. He didn't have the money, so he washed and patched up his old ones. With the rent and supplies he needed to pay, there was never really anything left. He already got himself a jar where he puts his spare money in. 

The Jinjuriki looked at the calender, reading the date with a slight smile on his face. He knew what today was and what was coming soon. He brushed invicible dust from his clothes and ran a hand through his hair with glee. He put on a henge, inspecting it in the mirror beroe jumping out of the window. He took off on the rooftops towards their usual meeting point. As they were going though their missions, Naruto noticed that Sasuke was still unusually tense around him. Well more than was normal anyway.

On their last mission for the day, Naruto chose the biggest dog, the same as last time. One might think he didn't learn from his mistakes, but it was actually not the case. He smiled to himself as he lead to stubborn hound with surprising streingth around. He blew himself up the last time. This time would be more peaceful, he decided. His team mates were plenty surprised at his controll over the dog. Sakura voiced that, though Naruto didn't give her much of an answer. 

 "I bet the dog isn't as hard to lead as he looks", spoke Sasuke after some time, the small dog at his side sticking it's toung out. Naruto glanced at him, then smiled challengingly, "You wanna try, Sasuke-teme?". That seemed to be the nail in the coffin. "Yes", sanpped the Uchiha, sticking out his hand with the leash, "Let's swap". 

* * *

Sasuke gritted his teeth as Sakura and Naruto supported him. Kakashi walked beside them, giving off the impression of reading his book. Sakura's face was contoured in worry, eyes glancing over Sasuke every few seconds like she could just by looking make out what hurts. Naruto sighed, trying to block out the feeling of anger coming from her. He hasn't lost his ability to feel negative emotions - what actually surprised him, considering the current Kurama wasn't as cooperative as the older one was. He learned fast (fast being his first day in the village) that it wasn't as much of a gift as he'd thought. These villagers still hated him with everything they had, looked at him with anger and yelled from the streets for him to leave the village. The JInchuriki understood of course, but it still hurt. Especially because he could not only see their anger, but feel it to.

Naruto shook his head, clearing it from it's thoughs before glancing at his team mates. Sasuke seemed to be coping well, his face slowly morphing back into a scowl, that told Naruto he would soon be snapping at everybody and everything. He turned away again, staring ahead and looking for distraction.

To his surprise, it wasn't Sasuke that snapped after a while, it was Sakura. "How can you be so indifferent to his injuries?", came her furious voice. She was glaring at the side of his head, "He is your team mate!". Naruto stared at her for a second, mouth turned upside down into a frown for the first time in days. Something in this look hurt Sakura too, making her regret her words slightly. Only slightly, she wouldn't take them back. Naruto turned away again, his face hasn't moved at all in the past few seconds. "I don't need to worry. It's not like he's going to die of it", sayed the blond. Sakura was about to snap again, as Sasuke wiggled forcefully out of their arms, glaring at both of them. "I don't need your help, nor your worry". He glared harder and Naruto knew would he have been older his Sharigan would have shown. 

The Uchiha took several steps away from them, distancing himself physically and menatlly. He gritted his teeth, 'I can't rely on help or waste my time like this! There are so many more powerful ninja out there. I need to get stronger!'. Sakura looked worriedly at both her team mates. Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes for a second, mourning how the non existing team spirit shatters even more. 

He looked up at the sky, spotting a messenger bird flying by with a screech. He observed it for a second, following it with his eye. "All right, guys", he turned his head to his charges, "Let's call it a day. You can beat each other to a pulp some other time. Anyway, I have to file my report on this mission". "Whatever", sayed Sasuke disinterestidly, "I'm out of here". He turned around and slowly walked away, Sakura gasping excitedly and running after him. "Wait! Sasuke! I"ll go with you!". 

Naruto sighed exasperated, "I'm alone then. That's fine... It's not as if they can keep up with my awesomeness". He smiled to himself, Kakashi going off in smoke besides him. 

He was about to walk away, as he heard rustling behind him. Turning around he was met with a stone camouflaged carton box crawling over in his direction. A sense of panic and happiness washed over him, both too overwhelming to choose between. He remained standing there, staring at the box as it creeped closer. He had avoided Konohamaru and his friends for a week now. He wasn't sure if he was ready. Nonetheless, a smile bloomed on his face. 

"There's no such thing as square rocks!", laughed Naruto. The box stirred, grumbling, "You saw through my camouflage again, Nii-chan!". The blonde was about to laugh again, as the box exploded, revealing two boys and one girl, caughing on the ground. The blonde wiped dust from his eyes,  a fleeting expression of annoyance on his face. "I think that were too much explosions, you guys", hacked Konohamaru. As the smoke cleared Naruto could see Moegis face lightening up and quickly exclaimed, "No need for introductions with more explosives! I already know who you are". He smiled sheepeshly as the three academy students looked disappointed. He noticed the green goggles on their heads a second later and grinned joyfully, "You're wearing my goggles!". The Konohamaru Ninja Squad looked proud at that and Konohamaru said, "Yeah! Now we are just like you!". Behind them Sakura looked terrified. 

Naruto got a thinking pose for a second, "I promised I'd play ninja with you, didn't I?". The three nodded. He sighed, but smiled nonetheless, "Well... I always keep my promises". 

"A ninja that is playing ninja? That is so twisted", came Sakuras voice. She walked slowly over to them, a dark cloud over her head. She stared at Naruto incomprehendedly, _'My ninja skills are worse than his?'_. Naruto grew uncomfortable and rubbed his neck, turning his gaze away. Konohamaru looked between them before a lightbulb seemed to go off over his head and his mouth contoured slyly. He turned to Naruto, who already had a grimace etched on his face as he knew what was coming, "Smooth, nii-chan! She's your girlfriend, isn't she?". The pinkettes face flamed red, though with rage or emberassment nobody really knew. Before she could punch him Naruto interjected calmy, "No. We're only friends, Hamaru-kun". Konohamaru seemed to falter a bit, but pirked up a bit at his new nickname. He nodded, ignoring the shocked look of Sakura. 

The blonde genin layed a hand on his head, looking at Udon and Moegi who stared oddly back at him, "So? Are we going now? I don't have all day". The three perked up simultaniously, grinning from ear to ear before Konohamaru shouted, "First at the plyaground will be the next Hokage!". They were faster gone than Naruto could blink. His hand was still positioned mid air as he slowly turned his head and watched them run for a second before snapping, "Wait a minute!?", and running off after them. Sakura sighed, contemplaiting, before running after them too.

Naruto took off faster than any genin had the right to, turned a corner and catched Konohamaru by the collar before he slammed into two Sunagakure nin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took it's sweet time, I know. I apologize, but as I said, I planned to post this later. I just wanna thank you guys so much for the kudos and comments (and bookmarks :))! I'm in tears. I hope you had/have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> That's my first fanfiction here, my first in english too. I'd like to introduce myself without making it awkward, so we get to know each other a bit. I like marshmallows, cats, coffee, anime, comics, books, TV series and doing nothing. I don't like spanish and mean people. I don't know where this is heading to but I'll try my best to make it readable and update a few times a month. I'm not promising that I'll get that story to the end because I myself have a life too and can't neglect that. I'm trying my best tho!!  
> I actually wanted to post this later but it would have been deleted tomorrow and I wouldn't stand that.  
> For those who wonder, Naruto will be a bit more skilled with the rasengan variations due to his years of using them. He just doesn't need another clone for the normal rasengan anymore (like in Boruto or near the wedding arc).


End file.
